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Updated: Oct 29, 2025
Design and Fabrication of an Elastomeric Unit for Soft Modular Robots in Minimally Invasive Surgery
Published on: November 14, 2015
Design of a novel tendon-driven manipulator structure based on monolithic compliant rolling-contact joint for
Dingzhi Zhang1, Yilun Sun2, Tim C Lueth1
1Institute of Micro Technology and Medical Device Technology, Technical University of Munich, Boltzmannstraße 15, 85748, Garching, Germany.
Purpose:
Compliant mechanisms are commonly used in the design of manipulator and surgical robotic tools for minimally invasive surgery (MIS) thanks to their compactness, ability of miniaturization and lower part count. However, conventional compliant joint has higher internal stiffness, which limits the bending radius. To overcome this problem, a novel tendon-driven manipulator structure based on monolithic compliant rolling-contact joint (CRCJ) is proposed.
Methods:
The proposed rolling-contact mechanism is used to prevent cable slack during actuation, which occurs in conventional compliant joint design. By means of selective laser sintering (SLS) technique, the CRCJ can be fabricated in a monolithic structure, thus granting the CRCJ both the advantages of compliant joints and rolling-contact mechanism. Simulations with nonlinear finite element analysis (FEA) and experiments were conducted to evaluate and compare the mechanical properties of the proposed CRCJ with conventional leaf-type compliant joint including the bending and compliant motion.
Results:
Experimental results showed that the CRCJ has lower bending stiffness, higher maximum bending angle (over [Formula: see text]) and a higher compliance compared to conventional compliant hinges, which allows a larger workspace and reduces the possibility of tissue injury. Agreement was also found between the nonlinear FEA and experiments regarding the relation between actuation force and bending angle. A primary prototype of a 3-DOF handheld laparoscopic manipulator with a diameter of 7 mm was further developed.
Conclusion:
A dexterous tendon-driven monolithic manipulator structure based on CRCJ for MIS is proposed. A preliminary prototype of a handheld laparoscopic manipulator demonstrates the capability of the CRCJ for steerable medical devices. However, design improvements based on FEA and application-orientated prototypes considering anatomical requirements still show room for improvements.
